Cervical traction orthodontic brace



Aug. 5, 1969 J. R. MATTHEWS ET AL 3,458,934

CERVICAL TRACTION ORTHODONTIC BRACE I Filed June 8, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Fig. 3

INVENTORS MELVIN J. DAVID JOHN ROBERT MATTHEWS s- 5, 6 J. R. MATTHEWSETAL 3,458,934

CERVICAL TRACTION ORTHODONTIC BRACE Filed June 8, 1967 I 2 Sheets-Sheet2 52 a 5 \EL INVENTORS JOHN ROBERT MATTHEWS 8 MELVIN J. DAVID Maw UnitedStates Patent 3,458,934 CERVICAL TRACTION ORTHODONTIC BRACE John RobertMatthews, 4195 Balboa Way, San Diego, Calif. 92117, and Melvin J. David,16221 Quemada Road, Encino, Calif. 91316 Filed June 8, 1967, Ser. No.644,636 Int. Cl. A61c 7/00 US. CI. 32-14 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The orthodonic brace has a unitary intro-oral bow and aunitary extra-oral bow which are secured together in positive alignmentwithout soldering, the intra-oral bow incorporating a spring portionwhich locks onto and adds to the spring elfect of the extra-oral bow,the locking means being easily releasable to allow lateral adjustment ofthe extra-oral bow for unsymmetrical pressure on selected teeth whenrequired.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to dentalequipment and specifically to a cervical traction orthodontic brace.

Most types of orthodontic braces are built up from several pieces ofwire soldered together into an assembly, all adjustments being made bybending. To achieve any degree of accuracy it is necessary to use anassembly jig, unless the technician is particularly skilled. When teethon one side must be treated differently from those on the other side, itis customary to treat each side separately or to construct a specialoffset brace which must be accurately made to fit. As a result thebraces are usually expensive in relation to the material and structureand their somewhat limited useful life.

Summary of the invention The orthodontic brace described herein iscomposed of two easily formed pieces of wire and a simple clamp elementwhich secures the assembly in positive alignment without soldering orjigs. One piece of wire comprises an extra-oral bow by which the braceis secured to the wearer by an elastic strap or the like. The other wireelement is an intra-oral bow which is attached to the teeth and hasintegral spring portions extending externally of the mouth and lockingonto the extra-oral bow. While the clamp and the locking means togetherhold the assembly securely, the locking means can be manually releasedto allow the extra-oral bow to be manually offset laterally. Thispermits adjusting the brace to provide unsymmetrical pressureapplication without disturbing the overall alignment of the assembly.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, fromthe front, of the complete orthodontic brace;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a similar sectional view showing an alternate clampstructure;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the brace showing oifsetting of theextra-oral bow;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the intra-oral bow prior to assembly;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation view of the brace with a retaining strap;and

FIGURE 8 is a view of a biasing post which can be used to hold thestrap.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specification and throughout the views ofthe drawings.

3,458,934 Patented Aug. 5, 1969 See Description of the preferredembodiments The brace comprises an extra-oral bow 10, an intra-oral how12 and a clamp 14 by which the bows are secured together. Extra-oral bow10 is a simple curved length of resilient wire, usually stainless steelor other noncorrosive wire, with a rolled eye 16 at each end forconnection to a cervical retaining strap 18, as in FIGURE 7. The spacingbetween the eyes 16 is approximately equal to the width of the wearershead and the strap 18 has end hook elements 20 which pass through theeyes, the strap being elastic or having some means for adjustment.

The intra-oral bow 12 is bent from a single piece of wire, preferablysmaller in diameter than bow 10, and has laterally opposed, returnfolded spring portions 22 formed by a common upper bar 24 and lower bars26 returning to the center parallel to the upper bar. The outer ends ofthe spring portions 22 are bent rearwardly to form locking loops 28 andat the center the wire ends 30 are turned rearwardly in side by siderelation, as in FIGURE 6, this being the form of the intra-oral bowbefore assembly. Upper and lower bars 24 and 26 are generally spacedapart at a distance equal to the diameter of extra-oral bow, but thebend portions 32 where locking loops 28 turn rearwardly are closertogether, so that the extra-oral bow must be forced between them.

Clamp 14 is initially a plate-like element 34 with a tubular sleeve 36projecting from one side. The clamp is attached by threading wire ends30 through sleeve 36 until the center of spring portions 22 are againstthe plate element. Extra-oral bow 10 is then inserted between upper bar24 and lower bars 26 and the plate element 34 is folded around thegrouped wires, as in FIGURE 3, to secure the assembly.

An alternative clamp 38, shown in FIGURE 4, has a separate sleeve 40with a flanged end 42 inside the clamp, rather than being a unitaryelement.

When the clamp is secured the wire ends 30 are separated and bend toform bow legs 44 to fit around the teeth in the conventional manner.Spring portions 22 will be bent rearwardly by the curve of theextra-oral bow 10 and add to the effective spring pressure. The outerend portions of the extra-oral bow are snapped into the locking loops 28and held securely therein and the brace is complete.

In normal use each bow leg 44 fits into a small tube 46 fixed on a band48, the bow leg being provided with a fixed stop 50 to limit itspenetration into the tube, as in broken line in FIGURE 7. The band 48 issecured around the tooth to be treated so that, when the strap 18 isstretched around the wearers neck the ends of the extraoral bow 10 arepulled rearwardly and spring pressure is applied to the selected teeth.The technique is well known and involves many diiierent pressure,direction and alignment variations.

In the configuration shown a small biasing post 52 is inserted in eacheye 16 and the strap hook elements 20 are attached to the upper end ofeach post by a link 54, such as an S-hook. The lower end of the biasingpost 52 has an enlarged head 56, adjacent which is an annular groove 58.Resilient eye 16 fits closely in the groove 58 and holds the postsecurely in place. The height of the biasing post determines the amountof torque applied to the bow, since the strap attachment is offset fromthe plane of the bow, and dillerent posts can be inserted according toindividual requirements. In FIGURE 7 the bow legs 44 are shown inclineddownwardly from the plane of the extra-oral how, this angle beingvariable to control the direction of the pressure. Alternatively thehook elements 20 can be attached directly to the eyes 16 and torqueapplied by adjustment of legs 44 relative to the plane of the extra-oralbow 10. The pressure itself can be controlled by bending the bowelements or adjusting the strap, although this is not usually changed toany great degree due to considerations of comfort to the wearer.

One significant feature of the brace not found in the usual solderedstructures is the provision for adjustment to provide unsymmetricalpressure, for a case where more pressure is desired on one side than onthe other. This is accomplished by pressing locking loops 28 back, as inthe full line position in FIGURE 5, to release the extra-oral bow, whichcan then be pulled to one side as necessary. The clamp 14 holds theassembly securely but the extraoral bow can be moved forcibly to have agreater length on one side, which provides a longer lever arm andconsequently more pressure than the other side. When the extra-oral bowis set as required the locking loops 28 are snapped back in place, as inbroken line in FIGURE 5, to lock the assembly securely. This adjustmentability avoids the necessity for building special braces at considerableexpense and successive adjustments can be made as treatment progresses,to adapt to the changing configuration of the teeth.

What I claim is: 1. A cervical traction orthodontic brace, comprising: aunitary extra-oral wire bow having end portions for connection to acervical retaining strap; a unitary intra-oral wire bow havingrearwardly extending bowed legs for attachment to the teeth; saidintra-oral bow having opposed, laterally extending, return folded springportions engaging said extra-oral bow; and a clamp surrounding andfrictionally securing said bows together at the central portionsthereof.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein said clamp has a rearwardlyextending sleeve in which said bowed legs are held.

3. The structure of claim 1, wherein the outer ends of said springportions have rearwardly turned locking loops in which said extra-oralbow is held.

4. The structure of claim 3, wherein each of said spring portions has anupper bar and a lower bar between which said extra-oral bow is held, thebend portions of said bars at said locking loops being spaced apart atless than the diameter of the extra-oral bow, whereby the extra-oral bowis retained in the locking loop.

5. The structure of claim 1, wherein said extra-oral bow is forciblyslidable through said clamp relative to the intra-oral bow.

6. The structure of claim 1, wherein said end portions have resilienteye elements thereof;

a biasing post fi'ictionally held in each of said eye elements andextending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the extra-oralbow;

and means for connecting a retaining strap to the ends of said biasingposts remote from the plane of the extra-oral bow.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1964 Miller et al. 32l4 8/1967Stifter 32-14

